Keep the customer satisfied

Keith in the Spotlights

We love it here....the wine grows on trees!!!!


I’ve lost track off how many gigs we’ve done now, but it has been regularly 4 nights a week, although some venues have switched days, and occasionally it has been, “can we leave it for this week?” the work has come in & we’ve got paid! (Which is not what always happens, according to rumourmongers, when dealing with Greek bar owners) I think maybe other acts haven’t been as successful because they are trying to do a full show (the Elvis acts & the Rat Pack tributes) or they are using backing tracks (of which there are many) if you can’t adapt to the audience or play to what can be sometimes nearly an empty bar then you run the risk of either being paid off or told not come back the following week. (Can you imagine doing a gig in a “fat” Elvis costume in 35º heat with no air conditioning?)

It is true that all the bars, hotels & restaurants are having a hard time of it this year, everyone is trying to make the same living from less tourists & more bars than ever before. June & most of July, the tourist trade has been flat! It seems that now the school holidays are upon us the resorts are finally coming to life, but 6 weeks is not really long enough to make a living for the whole year.
The benefit to us Muso’s is that the bars will try anything to get the punters in! Especially live music. As long as when you play, more people come in & drink, than if just the TV was on, that is when you are seen to be doing your job. Although how these bars are surviving on so few punters & paying the bar staff & me, (who are also employed to “PR” the bars & drag people in off the street) I don’t know.

If you look closely one of the boards outside this bar says Keith Mitchell!!

In the UK the average gig is 45mins per set, with 2 sets a night, but over here you are expected to do 2 one hour long sets, it doesn’t sound much more, only an extra 15mins per set, but it does increase the number of songs you have to play quite dramatically! Also with the number of tourists depleted, if they are in the bar and its coming to the end of your 1st set, you know that the interval is the time you are most likely to lose them so now I’m tending to work through the whole two hours, which can morph into 2 ½ hours if people request songs, and if I am enjoying myself & the drinks are flowing!
A Tourist helps Keith sing Mustang Sally

I’m playing at least 40 songs a night now, sometimes more, mainly because I start off with a list of songs in some kind of order, but then people request songs, and I end up playing stuff that I’d forgotten I knew, or even working out how to play a song that is sort of lodged in my brain but I’ve never got around to playing it before! It keeps me on my toes & I enjoy working in that kind of free flow way.This approach seems to “Keep the customer satisfied”, they get to hear songs they want to hear, they stay in the bar longer, drink more beer, spend more money, so the bar owners are happy too.

30 degrees even when the sun has gone down, but the show must go on, and the bars don't put the air con on!!

Liz has been doing her bit too; about half way through each gig she has been going round the tables trying to sell my CD. This has been going quite well. If you sit in any bar or restaurant for any period of time you get a procession of people trying to sell you stuff! It usually starts with a woman selling roses, then people, selling balloons or cowboy hats. The ones that are the most interesting are the deaf & dumb cigarette lighter sellers. They walk into the bar put a card on the table explaining in several languages that they are deaf ‘n’ dumb they leave a lighter on your table there for several minutes, then come back & try to get you to part with several euros for a fire extinguisher (with a built in siren) or a mobile phone, (with ring tones) lighter. (How do they know they work?)Anyway one night while I was idly playing guitar at a gig, I decided that I would explain to the audience, about the bar sellers & that Liz would move amongst the tables without speaking to them, leave a CD on each table, she would come back later & collect either the money or the CD! This worked quite well we’ve had some good sales, the only problem has been that, as Liz is blonde she sometimes forgets to go back to the tables to collect the cash or CD!!!

Any Requests? …
“Can you play far away?” Yep!!!

Sammie and her friend Lilly are staying with us for 2 weeks as part of their 6 weeks Island hopping

So many beautiful sunsets,

P.S If you want to see more photos you can click onto Lizzy's photos on the right hand side of the blogger page

Love to you all, stay cool, we can't...